2012 Walt Disney World Marathon

In 2006 Stacey and I saw this guy running Disney in a Mad Hatter hat, tuxedo jacket with tails and a clown nose.  He was being followed by about 15 gleeful runners dressed in purple shirts.  So was my introduction with Team in Training.  We saw him again in 2008 as well as 2010.  We learned that TNT connected with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in order to raise money for cancer research and treatment.  We wanted to join but the large fundraising goal they set for Team members scared us off.  Well, finally we decided to do it this year. After raising money in 2010 for Fred’s Team (another awesome group of runners dedicated to fighting cancer) we were less intimidated by the amount we would have to raise to run with TNT. 

In September of 2011 we started fund raising; thankfully we reached our fundraising minimum of $2600.00 quickly and continued on towards another goal of raising 4000.00.  We only made it to 3440.00 but we were still extremely pleased with the result.  Meanwhile we trained according to our coaches plan.  I knew that I had to meet my fellow team members on those cold Saturday morning runs, and Stacey knew that I was getting faster because of it so she didn’t miss her long runs either.  Unfortunately as the race grew closer Stacey started having knee and ankle issues.  So when we arrived at Disney we were a little nervous.

Half way through the training we learned that several friends would be running the race as well.  Sean Biggs and Rebecca Richbart planned to run the new relay.  Michelle and Adam Richbart planned to run the full along with Dan Richbart as well.  After six years we finally had a large group of friends to share this race with, and we were running with TNT.  I started praying that a repeat of 2010 weather was not in order.  I went to the local Orlando TV station’s website and listened to the forecast. “It hasn’t been this cold since January 10^th, 2010”  Are you freaking kidding me!!!!!  “But it should be in the 70’s by the weekend.”  Thank God.  Oh no did he say 70’s, yes high 70’s… but all my training was in mid 20s to 30s.  I am doomed.

So the race.  The expo was really good this year, better than 2010 but still not as good as 2006 was.  We got some stuff, and special compression tights for Stacey post race.  Then on Friday we went to the inspiration dinner.  What an amazing event.  The speakers were great; we learned we raised over 3 million dollars for cancer research.  We learned about the research programs that were supported in 2011 and what this year’s money would do in 2012.  We heard from Survivor and Amazing Race contestant Ethan who is currently fighting cancer and was running with us.  It was cool.  We had a small anxiety moment when we learned that Aaron would be running instead of Rebecca but that went so smoothly with Disney it is hardly worth mentioning. On Saturday we hosted a small pasta party for our friends who came to run the race, I love DVC rooms with full kitchens.   And then we tried to sleep while the largest Marco Polo game ever played occurred outside of our room. 

2:30 comes way to early.  We got dressed and met with Team in our race coordinators room.  Team was planning on leaving for the busses at 345.  My nerves would not have allowed me to wait that long.  Plus we wanted to be able to guide our Buffalo friends as well.  Unfortunately this meant we missed out on moving up from Corral G to Corral D but I felt more comfortable and relaxed because of that decision.  Getting there early did mean that we all were at the front of our respective corral which makes going out at your desired pace much easier. 

Disney instituted a wave start which we experienced for the first time this year.  It was great, 4 minutes between each wave with the first wave starting at 5:30.  It really thinned out the crowd for the start.  As you expect there are some areas where the crowd gets tight as you wind your way through the parks but nothing was so bad you couldn’t at least keep running.  Plus I think that helps us not go out so fast that we hit the wall to early.  Even so we were maintaining about an 11:30 pace for the first 10 miles.  Stacey started to cramp and I knew I couldn’t keep that up either for 16 more miles so we slowed to a 12:30 pace and kept that up for a while.  Unfortunately by mile 18 the heat was definitely causing tightening in my calves and thighs.  I knew it was just a matter of time before my legs locked up.  But I was pleased, usually I felt this way by mile 10 and cramped by mile 14, so this was a vast improvement.  Plus we were still ahead of the 5:30 minute group and were pacing well with another couple who were dressed like Mickey and Minnie mouse.  Still between mile 22 and 23 just outside of Hollywood Studios the cramps came.   By 23 I was walking.  I ran some inside MGM, yes I still call it that, but the legs were just barely holding together.  Stacey and I walked most of 24 and 25 while we watched 5:30 slip away.  Now it was on to our B goal of break 6 hours.  We had that easily.  It is amazing though what adrenaline can do, we rounded the corner to the finish, and how is running just a few feet ahead of us.  That TNT coach with the Mad Hatter Hat, Tux with tails and the clown nose of course.  We took off and crossed the finish line with him.  It really felt like we had come full circle.

Sadly this is Stacey’s last marathon; her knee just can’t take the training but what a great way to end.  She finished this race 54 minutes faster than her previous best reducing her PR from 6h 39minutes to 5h 45min.  I decreased from 6h 33min to the same as Stacey, a 48 minute improvement.  And we raised $3440.00 in the fight against cancer. 

As for me, next year is the 20^th Anniversary race, and Paul’s first Goofy Challenge.  I will probably do it with Team in Training again.  So here’s to 39.3 miles.

Walt Disney World Marathon 2012

I love this race.  It combines almost everything I love.

Running for fun. Check.

Long distance for challenge. Check.

Wife will run it with me. Check.

It’s Disney. Check

Running for a cause. Check.

Did I mention it was Disney. Check again.

 

As usual we didn’t know if funds would allow us to run this race.  Well things turned out better than we thought and we can.  We wanted to continue the tradition we started with our last Disney effort by running the race for a cause.  The question was, do we run for Fred’s Team again or sign up with Team in Training.  We love the cause Fred’s Team runs for but Disney isn’t really one of the races they train a team for and I really wanted to run with a team.  So we decided on Team in Training.  Well, that meant a lot more money, $2600.00.  But that is the challenge we decided to accept.  To donate go to our site at:

 

http://pages.teamintraining.org/wcny/wdw12/paulgulde

 

Now it is October, we already have our fundraising minimum and are now trying to raise $4000.00.  Training with Team has been a great experience.  Normally I would be slogging through 10 mile runs by now and desperately trying to have time for training through the week.  Team’s training schedule gives me two days off and we are only running 7 mile long runs so far.  This month will see an increase to 12 max with two 10 mile runs.  I think this will ensure I do not get injured and will allow me to focus on lower mileage at faster speeds before jumping to longer runs.  I hope this stronger base training will lead to a faster time at the marathon.

 

Another added awesomeness this year is that many of the Richbart Family will be running the race as well as my good friend Sean Biggs.  Sean ran the Buffalo half with me last May and is doing the race as part of a two person relay.  I am very excited that they will all be running.

Training for buffalo

For January and February I will focus on building up my base again.  I want to get to the point where running 20 miles a week does not cause strain.  Each run should be completable without forcing myself through it.  Starting in March I will begin building up my long run.  By May first I want to complete one 20 mile run and by the day of the race I want to have completed 4 runs longer than 15 miles.  The week of May 22th I will taper.  I will only have a couple of runs that reach 4 miles other than my long runs.  This is because I do not have the time for mid mileage running during the week.  I am making up for this by running 6 to 7 times a week.

I don’t want to subscribe any particular value to any run other than the long runs.  So I assigned miles to everyday of each week.  However, I also assigned each week a percentage of required running.  This is because I cannot always keep to a strict schedule because of work load.  from 1/16- 3/6 I have to complete 80% of all scheduled runs.  From 3/6 to 3/17 I have to complete 90% of all runs and in the last push to the race I want to complete 95+% of all mileage.  This will allow me to listen to my body and take days off if needed without feeling guilty.

Tomorrow it all starts again.

January 16th 2011 starts training for the Buffalo Marathon.  I was not pleased with the Buffalo half marathon the first time I ran it.  But there has been some great improvements to the race in the last couple of years.  At least that is the rumor.  Plus, my friend Eddie is coming to run it with me.  It will be his first ever marathon.  It will be my fourth marathon but the first time I will not be finishing the race at EPCOT center.  I have to say this worries me.  I have run nearly every part of the course doing various races in the Buffalo area, but 26.2 miles without the satisfaction of a Mickey Mouse Metal is very disconcerting.

The great thing about this race is that it is relatively flat AND inexpensive. Inexpensive is key to all things in 2011.  Plus, Eddie and Steph will not need a hotel, we can all car pool to the race, and we can all celebrate that evening together.  These are great things.

Stacey would like to run the half so some planning will be needed for that.  Otherwise this is going to be a really great race.  If anyone else would care to come out to Western NY and run it too, let me know.  It may be a small house but everyone is welcome to share a bit of the floor.

 

So what are my goals.  I have my Plan A goal which is my pipe dream I would love to hit time.  I will not share it with you.  So Plan B goal is sub 6 hours.  Disaster has struck in every race I have run.  Be it cramps, blister or sub zero weather.  Which means I have never beaten my first race time of 6:30 minutes.  I know in those last two races I could have beat 6 maybe gotten close to 5:30.  So I want it bad.  Plan C is reality.  I am training mostly in the worst part of Buffalo winter.  It will not be nice for running until mid April at best.  So I really just want to finish uninjured with at least a sub 6:30.

This will be my first distance race of the year, but hopefully not my last.  There is also the Grand Island Half that I am interested in, as well as the Niagara International full and Half Marathon in October.  If something great happens this year and finances are really really and I mean really good, I would like to do the Disney Wine and Dine Half in october instead.  But not if it endangers my ultimate goal.  The Walt Disney Goofy Challenge in 2012.  That is right, I want to run the Half and Full Marathon in January next year.

So tomorrow it all starts. Pray for me.

Winding Down the Year

2010 sure has gone by fast.  I know the end of year stuff traditionally comes in the last week of the year but I figured I could get an early start.  At the beginning of this year I ran the Walt Dismal Marathon. Disney 2010 was an awful rac.  Still it was Disney and despite being a tough race it was a great trip.  Disney is by far my happy place.  However, I decided two things.  1st 230 lbs was to hard a weight to race at.  2nd I still like to race.  Which is why, I think, 2010 saw two PRs in the 1/2 marathon and the 5K.

I made myself a goal.  Start 2011 20 – 40lbs lighter.  Well, I now weigh 210 lbs.  It took a while to figure out the program that works for me, and I only lose about a pound every other week, but I am slowly bringing my weight down.  Very happy with losing 20lbs in a year.

Work is great. We had insanely busy to very busy year. Which is great because I really need this job.  We put in a sliding glass door on the house this year.  Which is great.  Bradley loves it.

AJ became a kid this year.  He turns 4 this month.  How do you turn four and already be smarter than your parents.  I’m doomed.

Stacey is living through the longest, hardest semester of her life.  She will figure it all out, she always does.  Still, I will be glad it is all over.

We traveled like crazy this year.  Trip to Stacey’s parents, trip my parents, trip to nephew’s wedding, trip to cousin’s wedding… yeash.  I don’t know if we were home for the month of August and September.

And now we are in the last stretch.  Of course, being four, it is all about Santa this year.  When is he coming?  Will he bring me a reindeer? Where is he now?  What is he doing?  Can we go to his house for dinner?  That was all this morning on the ride to the store.

 

21st Running of the Linda Yalem Safety Run/Walk

Overall this was a great weekend.  I got a ton of work done on Saturday.  Then I woke up Sunday to run the Linda Yalem 5K.  This race is focused on raising safety awareness.  Linda Yalem was a victim of the bike path serial rapist/murderer.  He was recently convicted.  I like this race because it is held on UB’s campus making it generally flat and open despite the 1500 people running with you.  I also like it because it has a really great post race picnic.

I don’t do 5K races often.  The big races tend to blow my budget for signing up, but I try to get one done a year.  I usually finish in just over 30 minutes.  My best and only Yalem run time was 34:07 when I ran this race with by lab buddy Silvia.  This year I was running alone.  I left for the race around 7:50.  AJ and Stacey stayed home because it was 40 degrees and we planned on taking AJ to the pumpkin farm afterwards.  We didn’t want AJ to get tired.  As usual with the Yalem run, it was very well organized picking up the race packet.  Another great thing about the run, no port-a-potties.  The school opens the alumni center which has bathroom facilities.  I walked around a bit and ran into a Life Tech co-worker, Matt.  Matt planned on doing a mile before the race.  Although tempted, I decided I would just warm up by jogging in the parking lot.

Although I wasn’t cold, I was sort of chilled. So I sat in my car drinking gatorade and eating my special K bar.  The parking lot is literally two feet from the starting line.  At 0915 I did some laps up and down the aisles to warm up.  I jumped in line when I heard Amazing Grace play.  The gun sounded and we were off.

I did my first mile in 9 minutes.  I walked for a minute thirty seconds, even in small races I follow the Galloway plan just to try out different patterns.  This time, rather than doing 8 minutes running 2 minutes walking, I am doing run to a mile marker, walk for two minutes.  I reached mile two at 18:30.  I walked two minutes, then took off for the rest of the race.  It was nice to see that I wasn’t tiring very much and I was not working so hard I couldn’t say thank you to volunteers.

As you know, I cramp during races.  In fact, I cramped during the previous Linda Yalem run between 2 and 3 miles.  I think I may actually be drinking too much.  So this race I skipped the water spot.   I didn’t feel any cramping at all.   Woo Hoo.   Between miles 2 and 3 there is a single small hill that has a weird turn in it that makes it feel steeper than it actually is.  I went up no problem and finished the race in 29:50.  That is a new personal record in a 5K race, although I have run 5K’s for training in less time.  Still, it is a 4 minute 17 second improvement.  That is two races in a row that I set a PR.  I will be interested in seeing what the Turkey Trot has in store if I am able to fit it in.

VA Beach Rock’n’Roll Half marathon

This was my first Rock’n’Roll series race.  I had decided on this race because my good friend Eddie said he would run it AND because my other good friend Monte lives in the VA beach area.  Before I go into the weekend details let me say this first.  I am so very proud of Eddie.  Eddie has lost more than 100lbs since January of this year.  I strongly suggest you visit his page at www.monday315.com you will be inspired.  I know I am every day.

I was nervous about this trip because of the limited time I had for it.  We would be traveling six hours to NJ on friday, then seven more to VA beach on Saturday.  I would run the race and then travel back to NJ that Sunday, followed by the last leg to Buffalo on Monday.  I knew from our first marathon how much pain sitting in the car would cause so soon after running a race, so this made me very nervous.  However, to be able to run with Eddie after worrying about his health for so many years, I was willing to do it.

Training for this race went smoothly.  I had a lot of long runs where Sean was able to meet me on the road and complete them with me.  That definitely made me keep at it more than in the past.  July was better than August because of my work schedule in terms of completing the planned mileage but otherwise I was pleased.  I had three goals.

Goal A- Finish in under 2 hours.  This was the pipe dream perfect race/perfect training goal.

Goal B- Finish in under 2:30 minutes.  Very doable in my opinion.

Goal C- Finish, and improve on my PR of 2:51:00 at the Buffalo Half

Traveling down went very smoothly.  We arrived in Norfolk, VA around noon on Saturday.  We then headed over to the EXPO.  Stacey decided that she would try to volunteer during the race rather than be stuck sitting around doing nothing.  I checked in, got my bib number and goodie bag.  We then found the volunteer bench and signed Stacey up as a starting line volunteer.  After that we walked through the EXPO collecting free stuff and drooling over the races we would love to run if we had time.  I got to meet John “The Penguin” Bingham who writes for The Competitor magazine.  I have always liked his work.

We then went over the Brooks display.  Brooks are my sneaker of choice.  They had set up a circus road show complete with games to try and win stuff.  One of the games was throwing a very small ball into a bowl.  I did it and won a new pair of sneakers!!!!  I never win things so I was very excited.

After the EXPO we met up with Eddie and Stephanie.  We talked about family and running, and work, and running races, and kids, and running this race.  We then left to meet up with Genny and Monte for pasta.  Genny and Monte are so great.  Genny made this great sauce and bread with the pasta.  It was fun talking about when I lived with Eddie and great times with Monte and Genny.  I finally had my best friends from Texas and my best friends from Buffalo in the same place.  The only way it could be better is if Art and Lisa were there.

That night we made arrangements to have the car ready at 3:30.  I set up my race stuff and went to bed.  We were up at 3:15 and to the volunteer sign in by 4:00.  Stacey was given the job of directing buses to the drop off site.  While waiting I got to take a ride in a Dodge Viper as it was moved to the starting line. (Dodge was the official sponsor.)  At 6:20 I left Stacey to try and find Eddie and Steph.  We met up at their corrals and took pictures.  After which I moved back to corral 17.

Beach balls were being thrown around, the air was festive.  Then the leaders were started.  Every two minutes or so the next corral was started.  Some of the corrals had two starts because of the size.  John the Penguin and some British sounding old rock star were announcing the starts.  I started to wonder if I could catch Eddie in corral three but knew that way too much time had passed to do that.  I saw the 2:15 pace group in corral 16 and thought, jeez if I just keep with them I will finish in 2:15.  Off they went.  And I waited, then off our pace group went.

At Disney there is an A start and a B start and everyone goes.  So if see someone in the corral a head of you, there is a good chance of catching them.  Therefore, my brain is sadly thinking, hey just go catch up to that group.  Never putting together the little nugget that they started two minutes ahead.  So I begin chasing down that 2:15 sign.  I feel good, I am running along and I actually do catch up.  This had more to do with the traffic that slowed the 2:15 group.  Also, the leader was, intelligently, starting his group out slow.  By mile two I had caught them.  Problem, the crowd had cleared and the 2:15 group chose that moment to really kick it in.  I knew I couldn’t do it, I also realized my mistake, I should have kept an eye on the sign keeping it at the same distance, not catch it. Oh well, off they went, I took my first 2 minute walk break and shrugged.

I always need to run the first two miles just to get my pacing, then I slip into my 8 minute running 2 minute walking pattern.  This was easy to maintain and I was making decent time, though slowed much because of my fast (stupid) start and my hope to recover some of the wasted energy for later in the race.  The race is very cool with bands nearly every mile.  The crowds really come out and are very supportive.  By mile 4 I was seeing the leaders heading in the other direction.  One of which was the 2010 Women’s Olympic Marathon champion.  Very cool.

The race takes you onto a naval base with old barracks that look exactly like the ones I stayed many summers in while in the Army.  Around parade grounds we ran.  Lots of great flashbacks to some of the best times I had in the Army.  We left there around mile 8 and headed back.  I still feel really good with no issues.  I passed mile 10 at 1 hour 55 minutes. I texted Stacey and Steph and was glad to learn Steph and Eddie were at mile 12.  That is when it hit.  It started with my pinky toe and like a chain reaction of dominoes I felt the cramp spread up my calf.  This triggered the other leg to go and suddenly I was immobile with severe leg cramps.  Even my forearms started to cramp up.  This I just don’t understand.  It happens in nearly every race no matter what I have tried.  I hydrate, I get electrolytes, I eat well before the race.  I did a warm up jog.  I stretched.  I took my walk breaks.  I ate my GU.  I did literally everything that has ever been suggested to me.  Yet here I was in this painful stumble just keep upright.

There is no warning for these cramps.  One minute I am fine, the next I can’t breath because of the pain.  Still, I kept moving and managed to walk a mile when they passed enough to do an Airborne shuffle.  Once on the board walk, I was able to pick it up some.  I crossed in 2:43:11.  Frustrated because I know that mile walking stole my 2:30 finish.  More frustrated because I wasn’t tired from the run, I wasn’t in pain from the distance.  I was in pain because I had to will my legs to move forward despite being completely frozen in a cramp.  I was frustrated because I wanted this race to be different and I didn’t feel like it was.

That lasted until I found Eddie and learned that he and Steph finished in an amazing 2:22:00.  How is that for your first half marathon?  We stumbled around the post race area for awhile. Took some pictures and told our war stories.  Stacey was very excited for us.

After an hour or so we headed back to the car.  There was one thing I still needed to do.  And that was actually run with Eddie for the first time.  We ran ahead of the girls and made our way to the car.  It was the happiest run of my entire life.  Here he was, 100+ pounds lighter, 13.1 miles later, and he was still running.  It was awesome.

We left Eddie and Steph at their friends house and made our way to the Wilber’s for some much needed showers and another helping of that great pasta.  Then it was 9 hours back to NJ and 7 hours back home to NY on Monday.  I don’t suggest driving that far after a half marathon.  Unless of course you want to be completely frozen into the seated position.  It was worse then flying a day after the marathon in 2006.  I learned that I did accomplish goal C.  I improved my time by 8 minutes.  This is good.  And if I double this, it is a 5:30 marathon, so I am getting closer to that goal.  I just need to sort out this cramp issue if I ever dream of completing the Goofy in 2012.

Is the general right?

We have a general who has decided to speak out against his civilian leadership and show disdain for their policies.  Why?  There are some things I know.  One of them is there are very few people in this world smarter than US Army generals.  You don’t get stars without brains.  So when he allowed his command to disrespect the President of the United States in front of reporters, he knew what he was doing, he knew the consequences of this type of behavior.  Why then would he do it?

In the Army you can only have direct affect upon those below you.  You only hope to have an affect on those above you.  So when orders come that don’t make sense, it is often the duty of a soldier to grin and bear it.  When a new recruit enters basic training, that recruit is taught all of the skills to be a basic infantry soldier.  However, long before you hold a weapon, march in formation, or sing a cadence you sit down in a classroom.  The drill sergeant stands in front and describes the importance of the civilian controlled Army.  Although the Army has many jobs, and roles, it only has one mission.  That mission is to support and defend the constitution of the United States of America.  We follow the orders of our civilian leadership no matter what.  If they say fight, we fight.  If they say build schools, we build schools.  We are one hundred percent controlled by the civilian population.  If not, the result is tyranny.  The Caesars of Rome, feudal Kings, Napoleon, Pol Pot, Hitler, these are the results of a military not controlled by the people for the people.  Why then would he do it?

General Douglas MacArthur spoke at West Point about Duty, Honor, and Country.  Yet he spoke out against President Truman.  The result, he was fired.  The despicable reality of the North Korean dictatorship can be used to show that perhaps we could say that MacArthur was right.  Maybe we should have pushed China out of North Korea and secured a democratic nation.  Yet it was important and very correct that Truman fired MacArthur.  We may have rid the world of a brutal dictator but the step towards tyranny in our own country would have been irreversible if MacArthur was not punished swiftly.  So knowing what the punishment would be, why then would he do it?

Simple.  He is sending dead soldiers home because of bad policies.  He is only heard by the president once a month.  He has no contact with the vice president.  He is being ordered to fight with his hands tied.  He has come to the realization that he cannot help his soldiers without drastic action at great personal loss.  So he does what a soldier does, he sacrifices himself in the service of his country.  He knows he will take the hit and he takes it.  He does it because he is a warfighter and a leader before he is a politician.

Now the President must fire him.  He must fire him for the good of the nation.  Politically it may be better to keep him.  That cannot happen.  This general must be fired and he must be sent home.  To not fire him would be unforgivable and damaging to the nation.  To not fire him would be placing politics before the constitution.  To not fire the general would mean not defending the constitution, it is a violation of his oath of office.  The president must fire the general.  And then the president must change his policies and his priorities, or we will lose.

The perfect day

I get up at 6:30 and go for a two mile run.  As I am running I can here the early morning staff mowing lawns, cleaning the pool area and preparing the morning meal.  Otherwise the area is relatively quiet except for the odd dedicated runner.  I get in around 7:30 shower and change into shorts, sandals and a t-shirt.  Stacey is ready to go and we leave to get a nice morning breakfast of eggs, waffles and bacon.  As we eat some of our favorite friends stop by for a chat, maybe even a picture or two.  AJ is very excited to see them as well.

The three of us decide to use public transportation to head over to Main St.  We stroll down the road checking out shops, listening to people chat and every once in a while stop to watch the street entertainers sing a song or two.  We feel like an adventure and decide to take a couple of boat rides.  AJ is excited to learn about the animals of the world and see the back side of water.  As crazy as it may seem, we survive a pirate attack and falling over a water fall into a briar patch.  

After the adventures we decide to take it in lunch at our favorite Casey’s hot dog place.  We watch the game on the big screen as we enjoy our hotdogs and fries.  AJ is a little impatient to go see his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood as well as take a trip to that island located just past the second star to the right.  It all seems to be a fantasy.  By mid afternoon, we are happy to sit on the curb with ice cream watching the parade pass by.  Late afternoon is spent taking in a comedy show, who knew laughter had such power.  As evening passes we spend the time racing through a mountain of stars.  The day draws to a close watching fireworks in front of a castle fit for a princess.  

We head back on buses and carry our tired little boy into the main hall.  We are welcomed home and asked if we needed anything.  We lay AJ down and slip onto the back porch to enjoy a cool drink in the warm evening.  That is the perfect day.

Olden days aren’t so bad

In 1995 I entered Siena College .  Shockingly there was no www.google.com and pubmed was a fledgling difficult to use internet database.  So back in the “olden days” I had to use this huge Index of key words that was produced yearly.  Each magazine produced these volumes so that you could search that journal’s articles by key word.  It took forever, and often caused you to miss the most recent articles that would not be included in the index.  For that you used the quarterly index if one was produced, or you went month by month through each individual journal.  Basically, this could take days and weeks just to get ten or twelve articles about your research topic.

Now, a mere fifteen years later, I can pull up several hundreds of articles on any given topic in ten minutes.  Just type the key word into the pubmed search engine and bam, lists of articles.  Click a link and the abstract pops up.  Many times the article is free to view and print.  All thanks to the internet.  Now, I can get the most current research and even articles accepted but not yet published.  But there is something missing.  The old ones.  Sure most major journals have a large majority of their earliest articles online, especially any of the ground breaking Nobel winners, but there is a vast amount of articles not available online.  Scary thing is, many libraries are beginning to dispose of the old indexes and bound journals because of the internet.  This means that vast amounts of the foundational work will be lost.  Especially for journals that have been discontinued.

It has gotten too easy.  In the book, Jurassic Park by Micheal Crichton, Dr Malcom complained that scientists stand on the shoulders of giants without recognizing the sacrifices that were made so that they can take that next step.  We scientists have become disconnected in a fundamental way because of kits and prepackaged easy to use assays.  Sure it still takes years and is hard.  However, just getting a clonal cell line was worth a PhD in the past.  Now it is a simple tool that when lucky can be created in a matter of weeks.  Sure there are some tough genes that can take longer, but for the most part it is an easy process.  This has increased the pace so much that we don’t have the time to ask fundamental ethical questions like, should we do something rather than just focusing on the can we do something.  This has created a sense in the general public that scientists, while brilliant, have little or no morals.  While the Dr Mangele’s of the world exist, this is not so of most scientists.

In fact, most scientists wish to improve the human condition.  Cures for disease, or advanced technology to make work safer or life easier is the order of the day.  This isn’t Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated; it is good people generally trying to do good things.  That is why I cringe when “BIG PHARMA” is demonized. Big pharma made the drug that cured AJ’s scarlet fever.  Thirty years ago kids died from that.  Big Pharma wants to make money on what they do.  So does the cab driver in NYC whose hands you put your life in every time you want to get to Manhattan from Queens .  Although more people need taxi’s everyday than medicine, no one expects a free ride in that taxi.  Without people paying for medicine there would be no money to pay for research to make new medicine.  The Government does not pay for research and development of drugs; the NIH grants are not focused on new pharmaceuticals.  If they did, we wouldn’t have enough money to develop cough syrup much less the costs to develop a drug against any of the cancers.

Another problem that comes from instant info is the non-scientist, activist and media.  Non-scientists can get online and pull up anything they want.  They will see competing hypotheses and either ignore half the data to create an emergency (global warming anyone) or decided that scientists haven’t got a clue because everything is out of context.  And then the “public outcry”, which is usually a focus group of hand selected individuals, that we must do something right now or the end is nigh.  The end is not nigh, the end is whenever God wants it to be the end.  So let’s get a grip here.

As a scientist I am not offended by the person who asks should we do it.  Because the answer may be no, and that’ ok, we can not get all caught up in the can we.  We can do a lot of things; this does not make it right or best.  However, I think it is important that we give scientists the benefit of the doubt.  Are we causing the earth to warm up? Is it cyclical?  I don’t know, and I don’t care.  What I do know is that pollution causes cancer in little kids.  So how about we stop pollution because kids matter more than iPods and automobiles.  Guess what plastic pollutes to make, to use, and to get rid of and it even pollutes when it is recycled.  Plastic comes from oil.  Oil comes from people who do not like us.  The benefits of a minimal plastic lifestyle are great.

Plastic is another example of the got to have it now, can’t wait mentality.  It takes time to craft no plastic reusable items, why wait when you can have China stamp out fifty thousand of them an hour.  I am not knocking cheap stuff, but if we don’t get reusing and repairing the stuff we are going to bury ourselves in our own trash.  For example, the maker’s of lawn mowers will no longer provide a simple one dollar part that will repair the carburetor.  Because they would rather we dispose of the engine and buy a new one.  Why is this?  Simple math, complete engines have a greater cost to profit ratio than the single part.  A lawn mower use to last 10 years with regular maintenance.  Now it is one.  How is that better and more economical for me?  It isn’t.

Make it faster, tell it to me faster, and reduce the cost so I can have lots of bad stuff rather than a few nice things.  This societal push will affect all area’s of our life, and although we think we have a high quality of life, we actually don’t.  When it becomes easy it can also become lazy.  Think of it this way, with rudimentary computers and simple physics we went to the moon.  Now after 40 years we may not go to space anymore.  The shuttles are retiring.  The program for the next generation is unfunded.  We can’t do what we could do 40 years ago.  Yet our technology is stupendous.  What good is it then?  Is it really and advancement?  Or is it entertainment.  Does it really help, or does it create a bunch of A.D.D. overspending slobs.  I am tired of that kind of life.

No I am not some fanatical environmentalist.  And I love being able to access any scientific paper nearly anytime I want.  And some great things are plastic, like sterile bags of saline that save a dehydrated child.  These are great things.  I just don’t want to become lazy.  I don’t want the future depicted in WALL-E to become a reality.  God has given us one earth and one body.  And although it isn’t heaven, it doesn’t suck either.  So I want to take care of it a little better, so that AJ’s kids can live outside, rather than in a computer generated reality inside.